A Democratic congressional leader on defense called for an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, as he rejected on Thursday Bush administration attacks on war critics and raised bipartisan pressure for a new policy.
"The US cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. It is time to bring them home," said Representative John Murtha, a retired Marine colonel and the senior Democrat on the House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees defense spending.
Murtha is widely regarded as one of his party's top voices on military issues.
Murtha's remarks followed a string of sharp attacks by US President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney against critics of their Iraq-war policy and handling of prewar intelligence.
Murtha rose through the ranks of the US Marine Corps from private to colonel. He left college in 1952 to join the Marines and serve in the Korean War. He later attended Officer Candidate School and volunteered for service in the Vietnam War, winning a Bronze Star medal for valor.
Murtha made a reference to the draft deferments that kept Cheney out of Vietnam.
"I like guys who got five deferments and [have] never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done," Murtha said.
His call came two days after the Republican-controlled Senate overwhelmingly backed a resolution asking the administration for a plan to end the war, but rejected a Democratic resolution demanding a timetable from Bush.
Murtha, who supported the Iraq war but criticized Bush's handling of it, urged the administration to pull out US troops as soon as it could be done safely. He estimated that would take about six months.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan, in a statement issued with Bush in South Korea, said Murtha is a respected veteran and politician "so it is baffling that he is endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic Party."
Murtha said he would introduce a resolution calling for the return of US forces in Iraq "at the earliest practicable date." He called the war "a flawed policy wrapped in illusion."
KOREAN OPPOSITION
Meanwhile, South Korea plans to bring home about one-third of its troops from Iraq next year, the Defense Ministry said yesterday.
Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung reported the plan to withdraw about 1,000 troops from Iraq to the ruling Uri Party yesterday, the ministry said. About 3,200 South Koreans are in northern Iraq to help rehabilitate the country, making Seoul the second-largest coalition partner contributing forces after Britain.
South Korea's move caught the White House by surprise.
"They have not informed the United States government of that," said National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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